Celebrate Children on 11/18/2007

Celebrate Children!

On Sunday, November 18th, at 5:00 pm, St. Mark's will host a concert by the Orange Park Chorale under the direction of Dr. Carole Clifford. Appearing with the chorale will be two children's choirs: Voices of Grace (from Grace Episcopal Church) and Voices of Patterson (Patterson Elementary School).

The concert, titled "Celebrate Children," will feature John Rutter's "Mass of the Children" and will include other works as well. The concert is free and all are welcome. A reception will follow in Hart Hall.

An Invitation to Sing Bach!

This is an invitation to join the Festival Choir of St. Mark's in the singing of a Bach Vespers service for Advent.

The service will be held at 7 PM on December 9, 2007 at the church (3976 Hendricks Avenue in Jacksonville, FL).

The rehearsal schedule is as follows:
Nov 10 10 AM - 12 PM
Nov 17 10 AM - 12 PM
Dec 1 10PM - 12 PM
Dec 6 7 PM (Dress rehearsal with orchestra)
Dec 9 7 PM Bach Vespers service

The service will feature the Lutheran service of Evening Prayer (Vespers) with hymns and the Bach Cantata No. 140, "Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns Die Stimme."

Please contact Tony Cruz (vespers@comcast.net) for more information and to register!

(Stained Glass Window Photot by Bill Daugherty)

Scenes from Hawaii

These are just some random photos that I took while on vacation on the island of Oahu. I hope you enjoy them!

Back from Hawaii

Aloha! I'm back from my vacation in Hawaii and thought I would share a couple of photos. The first photo is on me at the Polynesian Cultural Center. It's sort of a theme park with educational displays about Hawaii and other Polynesian cultures. The lei I'm wearing is made from plumeria flowers. I remember making leis from this same kind of flower when I live in Hawaii as a child.

The second photo is of The Lutheran Church of Honolulu where I attended the service on October 7th. Carl Crosier is the Choirmaster and his wife, Katherine Crosier, is the organist. It was a fantastic service. The prelude was the Grave and Adagio sections from Mendelssohn's Organ Sonata No. 2. The postlude was the Fuga from the same work. Within the service, the choir sang a setting of Psalm 37 by Peter Hallock that was gorgeous. Most impressive was that I understood every single word. The Gospel Acclamation, I Will Proclaim Your name to My People, was written by Carl Crosier and I enjoyed it very much. At the musical offering, O Lord, Increase My Faith by Ricard DeLong was sung. The communion music was the best as the choir sang O Rest In the Lord (from Mendelssohn's Elijah) and Kate Lingley, soprano, gave a beautiful rendering of He That Shall Endure to the End from the same work.

This congregation has a unique way of saying "welcome" to its guests. Guests receive a lei made from ribbon and adorned with a kukui nut. There is also a card with directions to the church and service times. I will hold onto my lei. The church's Pastor is Reverend Jeffrey Lilley. I've already received a nice letter from him inviting me to visit when I'm in Honolulu again. If you find yourself in Honolulu, I heartily recommend a visit to this church!

I had a picture taken with Carl and Katherine, but something happended to my camera and I lost all of my pictures for that day. I had to return later in the week to take the picture above.

On Vacation

Hi Readers, This is just a quick note before I go on vacation. Your organist on 10/7/2007 will be Jane Daugherty who will also lead the choir in the musical offering. (No rehearsal on 10/10 for Festival Choir or Ren Men; however, St. Mark's Ringers will rehearse under the direction of Larry Tallman). Thank you, Jane and Larry!

The Kingdom Choir will not rehearse on 10/7 but will be back in place on 10/14 with Jane K providing lunch.

October 15th at 7:00 pm: Kathie Fink Solo Handbell Concert
Kathie will be touring in October with Legacy, a program and tribute to her father, Larry Fink Sr. and the Fink Family HandbellRingers. Between solo pieces performed by Kathie, black and whitetelevision film clips from 1961-66 of the Fink family and historicalinterviews with Larry and his wife Wilma will be shown.
http://www.kathiefink.com/index.php

Bach Vespers: The service will be held on December 9th (Advent II) at 7:00 PM with an orchestra and J.S. Bach's Cantata #140 "Wachet Auf." As usual, singers from the community are invited to join our Festival Choir in the singing of this music. Rehearsals will be Nov 10, Nov 17, and 12/1 from 10 AM to 12 PM. The dress rehearsal will be 12/6 (Thursday) at 7 PM and the service will be on 12/9 at 7 PM. My deepest thanks to Ellen Olson for hiring the orchestra. Please contact me for more information about singing with us!

Finally, thanks to Bill Daugherty for the photo that accompanies this post!

Chamber Music Concert on Sunday, September 9th at 7:00 p.m.

Eric and Ellen Olson, along with friends from the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra will present a concert of chamber music to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation on September 9th, 2007 at 7:00 p.m at St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church. The program will include the Marcello Oboe Concerto and the Mozart Oboe Quartet. An offering will be taken with additional funding being provided by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church is located at 3976 Hendricks Avenue.

Juvenile Diabetes, also known as Type 1 Diabetes, is generally diagnosed in children, teenagers, and young adults.

A reception will follow the concert. All are welcome!

Thanks to Bill Daugherty for use of the photo accompanying this article!

Rally Day (August 26) is a Bluegrass Liturgy

August 26th is Rally Day and to celebrate we'll have a bluegrass liturgy accompanied by the Jubilee Jammers, St. Mark's own bluegrass band-in-residence.

We'll be singing "Lord, Have Mercy," "This is the Feast," "Holy, Holy, Holy," and "Lamb of God," all in a bluegrass style as composed by Dr. Ronald Rodman, Professor of Music at Carleton College in Northfiled, Minnesota.

The Jubilee Jammers will also play, "God Spoke His Name," "I Saw the Light," and "Hallelujah, I'm Ready To Go!" The Festival Choir will sing "Walkin' Up The King's Highway" by Jerry Ulrich.

Don't forget there is only one service at 10:30 and it's followed by a potluck supper, games, line-dancing, activities, and lots of door prizes.

How often do you come to church and hear fiddles, guitars, mandolins, a dobro, and even a bass fiddle! This is sure to be a fun day, so bring the whole family!